Valve.



G. D. HOFFMAN.

VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1908.

1,007,696, Patented N0v.7,1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE 1). HOFFMAN, OF WESTERN SPRINGS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICANRADI- ATOR COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VALVE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE D. HOFFMAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Western Springs, county ofCook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Valves, and declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, such as will enable others.skilled inthe art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to valves provided with revoluble stems past whichleakage of fluids must be prevented, and it has for its object toprovide a simple and reliable seal for such stems which will insureagainst leakage either inwardly or outwardly.

Further objects will be apparent from the following detailed descriptionof a preferred embodiment of my invention taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing which illustrates said embodiment. The variousfeatures of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will, however,be pointed out with particularity in the claims.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through thevalve; Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is aplan view of a sleeve surrounding the stem proper.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a valve casing and B a valvecontrolling a port within said casing.

G is a single-piece valve stem having a screw-threaded portion 0 at itslower end for engaging with a cooperating screwthreaded member Bconnected to the valve. The member B is mounted within the valve casingin such a manner as to be free to move from or toward the port which thevalve controls without, however, having ca pacity for rotary movements.This may be accomplished by providing feathers b which engage withinguides a on the interior of the valve casing or a bonnet A rigidlysecured to the casing. The valve is moved from and toward the port whichit controls by rotating the stem, the mere rotation of the stem withoutaxial movement thereof raising and lowering the valve by reason of thescrew-threaded connection.

The end wall a of the bonnet A forms a pair of annular seats surroundingthe stem, one of the seatsa being directed in- Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed June 1, 1908.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

Serial No. 435,913.

wardly and the other, of, being directed outwardly. The valve stem hasthereon an annular flange which lies beneath the seat (1 D is a thickring or washer of any suitable anti-friction material arranged betweenthe flange c and the cooperating seat on the casing. It will be seenthat when the ring is clamped tightly between the flange and the seat onthe valve casing, a tight seal is provided which effectually preventsleakage in either direction past the stem. Great difficulty hasheretofore been experienced in providing means for eflectivelymaintaining this seal under all conditions to which a valve in actualuse may be subjected. It will be seen that a downward pressure upon thevalve stem might loosen the sealing arrangement sufficiently to permitleakage. In accordance with my invention I provide a second sealconsisting of the seat a on the valve casing, an annular flange c on thevalve stem outside of this seat, and a ring E, similar to the ring D,interposed between the seat a and the flange 0 The flanges c and c aremounted upon or connected to the stem in such a manner as to beadjustable from and toward each other without, however, making itpossible for fluid to pass along the stem between the stem and theflanges. When, therefore, the flanges are adjusted toward each other soas to clamp the members D and E firmly against the cooperating seats onthe casing, absolute tightness is secured under all conditions; for adownward pressure on the stem, while tending to open a passage adjacentthe lower flange will to the same extent force the upper flange towardits cooperating seat and increase the tightness at this point; while anupward pull upon the stem would increase the tightness on the undersideso that no fluid could pass into or out of the casing along the valvestem even though the upper flange were unseated slightly.

While the arrangement of the annular flanges upon the stem may begreatly varied I have found that the construction shown in the drawingis extremely simple and efiicient. As shown, the flange 0 forms anintegral part of the stem while the flange 0 is detachable from thestem. The stem preferably has a cross-section other than circularthroughout that portion 0 along which the flange c is adapted toposition itself. The flange itself is made in the form of a collar whichfits about the portion 0* of the stem so as to be slidable along butnonrotative upon the stem. Furthermore the member 0 is preferablyprovided with a sleeve 0 extending outwardly therefrom and surroundingthe stem, the collar and sleeve forming a gland. The space between thesleeve and the stem is filled with packing F of any suitable material.Since the sleeve and the stem are practically stationary with respect toeach other there is no wear upon the packing and consequently no dangerthat leakage will occur at this point. The sleeve and its attachedflange are forced toward the other flange and locked in the desiredposition in any suitable way, as, for example, by means of a nut Gscrew-threaded upon the stem directly beyond the outer end of thesleeve. The nut engages with the end of the sleeve and, by turning thenut, the sleeve and its flange may be pressed downwardly with anydesired degree of pressure. At the same time of course the flange c isdrawn upwardly so that tight joints are provided adjacent both of theflanges. It will be seen that the material between the sleeve and thestem may be packed in very tightly since the only relative movementbetween the sleeve and the stem may be effected by means of the nut uponthe stem, a powerful leverage being afforded upon the sleeve for movingit. In case of wear, it is only necessary to tighten the nut slightly.

G is a lock nut or the like for holding the nut G in place.

In order that absolute tightness may be insured even though wear orexpansion may take place, I provide a spring H which surrounds thesleeve 0 and bears at its opposite ends against the nut G and the flange0 respectively. This spring is made of such a length that normally it isunder considerable tension so that it is always exerting a force tendingto move the flange c away from the nut Gr. -However, it is the purposeto have the flanges held positively against their seats and thereforeunder normal conditions the nut G is intended to engage with the end ofthe sleeve. If any wear should occur, however, the spring will be freeto follow its expanding tendency so as to force the stem upwardly andthe flange 0 downwardly.

It will be seen that all of the movable parts upon the stem are lockedto the stem in such a manner that there is very little danger ofdisarrangement. Thus the sleeve cannot rotate upon the stem and so itdoes not tend to unscrew the nut which can rotate. Similarly the springbears at its ends against two members which have no tendency to rotaterelatively to each other and therefore do not exert a twisting forceupon the spring.

I prefer to provide an auxiliary casing member or bonnet A which isscrewthreaded or otherwise fastened upon the bonnet A, this auxiliaryeasing member surrounding the stem and the adjustable parts carriedthereby so as to completely house them. The upper end of the member Athrough which the stem passes, forms a bearing as at a which supportsthe stem against lateral strains.

It will now be seen that I have provided a simple and compact valvewherein absolute tightness about the stem may be secured without dangerthat the valve may he accidentally or mischievously manipulated so as toproduce leakage. Even with the housing A removed it would be almostimpossible to tilt the stem sufliciently to cause leakage withoutapplying enough pressure to completely destroy the device. \Vith theauxiliary housing in place, however, the stem is securely supported nearits outer end so that a lateral pressure upon the stem would have noeffect upon the seals.

While I have described in detail a preferred embodiment of my inventionI do not desire to be limited to the particular construction andarrangement shown since in its broader aspects my invention contemplatesvarious other forms as will be evident from the definitions of myinvention constituting the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is 1. In combination, a valve casing, arigid valve stem projecting into said casing, said casing havinginwardly and outwardly directed seats surrounding said stem, an annularflange fixed upon said stem within and cooperating with the innermostseat, a flange mounted upon said stem outside of the outer seat so as tobe slidable but not rotatable upon the stem, a steam-tight packingbetween the latter flange and the stem, and means for forcing the latterflange along the stem so as to bring both flanges into operativerelation to their respective seat-s, and an auxiliary casing membersurrounding the stem and affording a bearing therefor at a point outsideof the outer flange.

2. In combination, a valve casing, a rigid valve stem projecting intosaid casing, said casing having inwardly and outwardly directed seatssurrounding said stem, an annular flange carried by the stem inside ofand cooperating with the inner seat, an annular flange slidably mountedupon said stem outside of and cooperating with the outer seat, saidlatter flange having a sleeve surrounding said stem, packing betweensaid sleeve and the stem, and a nut screwthreaded upon the stem andengaging with the outer end of the sleeve.

3. In combination, a valve casing, a rigid valve stem projecting intosaid casing, said casing having inwardly and outwardly direoted seatssurrounding said stem, an annular flange carried by the stem inside ofand cooperating with the inner seat, an annular flange slidably mountedupon said stem outside of and cooperating with the outer seat, saidlatter flange having a sleeve surrounding said stem, packing betweensaid sleeve and the stem, and a nut screwthreaded upon the stem andengaging with the outer end of the sleeve and the packing for forcingthe sleeve and packing along the stem.

4. In combination, a valve casing, a rigid valve stem projecting intosaid casing, said casing having inwardly and outwardly directed seatssurrounding said stem, an annular flange carried by the stem inside ofand cooperating with the inner seat, an annular flange slidably mountedupon said stem outside of and cooperating with the outer seat, saidlatter flange having a sleeve surrounding said stem, packing betweensaid sleeve and the stem, and a nut screwthreaded upon the stem andengaging with the outer end of the sleeve, and a spring surrounding thesleeve and engaging at its ends with the nut and the flange connectedwith the sleeve.

5. In combination, a valve casing, a rigid valve stem projecting intosaid casing, said casing having inwardly and outwardly directed seatssurrounding said stem, an annular flang ycarried by the stem inside ofand cooperating with the inner seat, an annular flange slidably mountedupon said stem outside of and cooperating with the outer seat, saidlatter flange having a sleeve surrounding said stem, packing betweensaid sleeve and the stem, and a nut screwthreaded upon the stem andengaging with the outer end of the sleeve, and an auxiliary casingmember surrounding the stem and affording a bearing therefor outside ofsaid nut.

6. A valve comprising a casing having a partition therein, a valve seatin the casing, a valve closure in the casing, a stem swivelly connectedwith the valve closure, packing around the stem on each side of thepartition, a rigid collar on the stem on one side of the partition, amovable collar on the stem on the opposite side of the partition, acollar adjustable on the stem on the same side of the partition as themovable collar and a spring between said adjustable and movable collarsfor forcing the movable collar downwardly against the packing on oneside of the partition and for forcing the rigid collar upwardly againstthe packing on the opposite side of the partition.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE D. HOFFMAN.

WVitnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREIGH, HARRY S. GAITHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1-). G.

